1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound generation control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional music composition apparatus, a piece of music is composed by selecting desired data which specifies the content of music sound to be generated (hereinafter referred to as “sound generation data”) from a plurality of sound generation data and by arranging the selected sound generation data in chronological order for generation of music sound of the sound generation data. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-108127 describes a technology in which a piece of music is composed by selecting a rhythmic pattern of one measure (i.e., a combination of sound generation data of one measure) on a pattern select screen and by arranging the selected rhythmic pattern on a pattern sequencer screen. Each rhythmic pattern is previously composed on a pattern edit screen.
Some music plays in a loop. This type of music is referred to as “loop music”. A loop of music may be composed in the following manner. First, a plurality of music data, each including a plurality of sound generation data arranged in chronological order for generation of music sound of the sound generation data, are created. Then, the plurality of music data is edited (for example, the sound generation timings of the plurality of music data are changed) while repeatedly performing simultaneous sound generation of the plurality of music data, thereby composing the loop music. However, with the configuration of the music composition apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-108127, it is difficult for a loop music composer to compose a desired loop of music while changing sound generation timings of a plurality of music data.